Warrior class battleship
Encyclopedia
The Warrior class ironclads were a class
of two warships built for the Royal Navy
between 1859 and 1862, the first ocean-going ironclads with iron hulls ever constructed. The ships were designed as armoured frigates in response to an invasion scare sparked by the launch of the and her three sisters
in 1858. They were initially armed with a mix of rifled breech-loading
and muzzle-loading smoothbore guns, but the Armstrong
breech-loading guns proved unreliable and were ultimately withdrawn from service.
The ships spent their first commission with the Channel Fleet
before being rearmed with new rifled muzzle-loading guns in the late 1860s. Warrior
rejoined the Channel Fleet after her refit while Black Prince
joined the 1st Class Reserve and joined the fleet during its annual manoeuvres. The two ships exchanged roles after another refit in the mid-1870s. Both ships spent most of the last two decades of the 19th century in reserve. Warrior was hulk
ed in 1902 and survived to be restored in 1979 as a museum ship. Black Prince became a training ship in 1896 and was hulked in 1910 before being sold for scrap
in 1923.
Isaac Watts as 40-gun armoured frigates largely based on the fine lines of the large frigate . Warrior and her sister Black Prince were not intended to stand in the line of battle
as the Admiralty
was uncertain about their ability to withstand concentrated fire from wooden two and three-deck ships of the line. Rather they were designed to be fast enough to force battle on a fleeing enemy and to control the range at which a battle was fought for their own advantage.
of 58 in 4 in (17.78 m) and a draft
of 26 in 10 in (8.18 m). The ships displaced 9137 long tons (9,283.6 t). The hull was subdivided by watertight transverse bulkhead
s into 92 compartments and had a double bottom
underneath the engine
and boiler rooms.
Two bilge keel
s were fitted (the first used by the Royal Navy), which significantly reduced the roll of the ships. Because of their length the ships proved to be very sluggish while manoeuvring, as Warrior proved when she collided with in 1868. The Warrior-class ships trimmed down by the bow, not least because they were fitted with a 40 long tons (40.6 t) iron knee
placed at the bow to give it a traditionally pleasing shape. This also prevented the ships from ramming any other ships. The bowsprit
was shortened after completion in an effort to reduce the trim, but it was not noticeably successful.
driving a single 24 in 6 in (7.47 m) propeller. Ten rectangular boiler
s provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of 20 pound per square inch. The engine produced a total of 5267 ihp and was the most powerful thus far built for a warship. On sea trial
s in October 1861 Warrior had a maximum speed around 14.3 knots (7.8 m/s); Black Prince was about a half knot slower. The ships carried 800 long tons (812.8 t) of coal, enough to steam 2100 nautical miles (3,889.2 km) at 11 knots.
The ironclads were ship rigged and had a sail area of 48400 square foot. The lower masts were made of wood, but the other masts were iron. Warrior made 13 knots (7.1 m/s) under sail, but Black Prince could only do 11 knots (6 m/s). Under both sail and steam Warrior once logged 17.5 knots (9.5 m/s). Both funnels were semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance while under sail alone. The ships' propellers could be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail. They were the largest hoistable propellers ever made and required about 600 men to be raised.
The armament of the Warrior-class ships was intended to be 40 smoothbore, muzzle-loading 68-pounder gun
s, 19 on each side on the main deck and one each fore and aft as chase gun
s on the upper deck. This was modified during construction to ten rifled 110-pounder breech-loading guns, 26 × 68-pounders, and four rifled breech-loading 40-pounder
guns as saluting guns. The 40-pounder guns were to have been replaced by 70-pounder guns, but these failed their tests and were never issued. Both breech-loading guns were new designs from Armstrong
and much was hoped for them. Four of the 110-pounder guns were installed on the main deck amidships and the other two became chase guns; all of the 68-pounder guns were mounted on the main deck. Firing tests carried out in September 1861 against an armoured target, however, proved that the 110-pounder was inferior to the 68-pounder smoothbore gun in armour penetration and repeated incidents of breech explosions during the Battles for Shimonoseki and the Bombardment of Kagoshima
in 1863–64 forestalled plans to completely equip the ships with the 110-pounder gun.
The 7.9 inches (200.7 mm) solid shot of the 68-pounder gun weighed approximately 68 pounds (30.8 kg) while the gun itself weighed 10640 pounds (4,826.2 kg). The gun had a muzzle velocity
of 1579 ft/s (481.3 m/s) and had a range of 3200 yards (2,926.1 m) at an elevation of 12°. The 7 inches (177.8 mm) shell of the 110-pounder Armstrong breech-loader weighed 107–110 lb (48.5–49.9 ). It had a muzzle velocity of 1150 ft/s (350.5 m/s) and, at an elevation of 11.25°, a maximum range of 4000 yards (3,657.6 m). The shell of the 40-pounder breech-loading gun was 4.75 inches (12 cm) in diameter and weighed 40 lbs. The gun had a maximum range of 3800 yards (3,474.7 m) at a muzzle velocity of 1150 ft/s (350.5 m/s). The 110-pounder gun weighed 9520 pounds (4,318.2 kg) while the 40-pounder weighed 3584 pounds (1,625.7 kg). In 1863–64 the 40-pounder guns were replaced by a heavier version with the same ballistics. All of the guns could fire both solid shot
and explosive shells
.
Both ships were rearmed during their 1867–68 refit with a mix of 7-inch and 8 inches (20 cm) rifled muzzle-loading guns. Warrior received twenty-eight 7-inch and four 8-inch guns while Black Prince received four fewer 7-inch guns. Both ships received four 20-pounder
breech-loading guns for use as saluting guns. The shell of the 15-calibre
8-inch gun
weighed 175 pounds (79.4 kg) while the gun itself weighed 9 long tons (9.1 t). It had a muzzle velocity
of 1410 ft/s (429.8 m/s) and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal 9.6 inches (244 mm) of wrought iron
armour at the muzzle. The 16-calibre 7-inch gun weighed 6.5 long tons (6.6 t) and fired a 112 pounds (50.8 kg) shell. It was credited with the nominal ability to penetrate 7.7 inches (196 mm) armour.
The Warrior-class ships had a wrought iron
armour belt
, 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick, that covered 213 feet (64.9 m) amidships. The armour extended 16 feet (4.9 m) above the waterline and 6 feet (1.8 m) below it. 4.5-inch transverse bulkheads protected the guns on the main deck. The armour was backed by 16 inches (40.6 cm) of teak
. The ends of the ship were left entirely unprotected which meant that the steering gear was very vulnerable.
joints to lock the plates together and increase their resistance to armour-piercing shells. All together these modifications delayed the completion of Warrior by a year past her contract completion date.
from 1864 to 1867, during which time she was refitted. The ship rejoined the Channel Fleet in 1867 and towed a floating drydock to Bermuda
in 1869 with her sister Black Prince. Warrior was placed in ordinary again from 1872 to 1875 and was modified with a poop deck
. She was recommissioned into the 1st Class Reserve in 1875 and made periodic training cruises until 1883. The ship was formally reclassified as an armoured frigate in 1884, but was disarmed and mastless. Warrior was hulk
ed as a depot ship in Portsmouth
Harbor in 1902 and renamed Vernon III in 1904 when she became part of HMS Vernon
, the Royal Navy's Torpedo School. The ship regained her original name in 1923 and was converted once more into an oil pipeline pier in 1927. Warrior was towed to Pembroke Dock
in 1929 and was renamed C77 in 1942 to release her name for the new aircraft carrier . In 1979 C77 was moved to Hartlepool
and was restored as HMS Warrior (1860) as the Fleet Headquarters
in Northwood, London had assumed the name of HMS Warrior in the early 1960s. HMS Warrior (1860) can now be seen near at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Black Prince capsized while in dock at Greenock
, damaging her masts. She arrived in Spithead
in November 1861 with only jury-rigged fore and mizzenmasts. The ship was assigned to the Channel Fleet upon her completion and in 1867–68 she was rearmed and then assigned to the 1st Class Reserve. She was refitted in 1874 and given a poop deck
, and rejoined the Channel Fleet in 1875 as the flagship
of Rear Admiral
Sir John Dalrymple-Hay, second in command of the fleet. Black Prince was placed in reserve in 1878 in Devonport until she was converted to a training ship in 1896 in Queenstown, Ireland and renamed Emerald in 1903. The ship was hulked and renamed Impregnable III in 1910 when she was assigned to the training school HMS Impregnable before she was sold for scrap on 21 March 1923.
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
of two warships built for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
between 1859 and 1862, the first ocean-going ironclads with iron hulls ever constructed. The ships were designed as armoured frigates in response to an invasion scare sparked by the launch of the and her three sisters
Sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...
in 1858. They were initially armed with a mix of rifled breech-loading
Rifled breech loader
A rifled breech loader is an artillery piece which, unlike the smooth-bore cannon and rifled muzzle loader which preceded it, has rifling in the barrel and is loaded from the breech at the rear of the gun....
and muzzle-loading smoothbore guns, but the Armstrong
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
breech-loading guns proved unreliable and were ultimately withdrawn from service.
The ships spent their first commission with the Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
before being rearmed with new rifled muzzle-loading guns in the late 1860s. Warrior
HMS Warrior (1860)
HMS Warrior was the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship, built for the Royal Navy in response to the first ironclad warship, the French Gloire, launched a year earlier....
rejoined the Channel Fleet after her refit while Black Prince
HMS Black Prince (1861)
HMS Black Prince was the third ship of that name to serve with the Royal Navy. She was the world's second ocean-going, iron-hulled, armoured warship, following her sister ship, . For a brief period the two s were the most powerful warships in the world, being virtually impregnable to the naval guns...
joined the 1st Class Reserve and joined the fleet during its annual manoeuvres. The two ships exchanged roles after another refit in the mid-1870s. Both ships spent most of the last two decades of the 19th century in reserve. Warrior was hulk
Hulk (ship)
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...
ed in 1902 and survived to be restored in 1979 as a museum ship. Black Prince became a training ship in 1896 and was hulked in 1910 before being sold for scrap
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
in 1923.
Design and description
The Warrior-class ships have been described as revolutionary, but in truth they were more evolutionary than not as everything except their wrought iron armour had been in use by ocean-going ships for years. The naval architect and historian David K. Brown commented, "What made [Warrior] truly novel was the way in which these individual aspects were blended together, making her the biggest and most powerful warship in the world." They were designed in response to Gloire, which started an invasion scare in Britain, but they had a very different concept of operation to the French ship which was meant as a replacement for wooden ships of the line. They were designed by Chief Constructor of the NavyDirector of Naval Construction
The Director of Naval Construction was a senior British civil servant post in the Admiralty, that part of the British Civil Service that oversaw the Royal Navy. The post existed from 1860 to 1966....
Isaac Watts as 40-gun armoured frigates largely based on the fine lines of the large frigate . Warrior and her sister Black Prince were not intended to stand in the line of battle
Line of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...
as the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
was uncertain about their ability to withstand concentrated fire from wooden two and three-deck ships of the line. Rather they were designed to be fast enough to force battle on a fleeing enemy and to control the range at which a battle was fought for their own advantage.
General characteristics
The Warrior-class ships were 380 in 2 in (115.87 m) long between perpendiculars and 420 feet (128 m) long overall. This was 44 feet (13.4 m) longer than the Mersey, the longest wooden-hulled ship in the Royal Navy. They had a beamBeam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 58 in 4 in (17.78 m) and a draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 26 in 10 in (8.18 m). The ships displaced 9137 long tons (9,283.6 t). The hull was subdivided by watertight transverse bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
s into 92 compartments and had a double bottom
Double bottom
A double bottom is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom of the ship has two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is somewhat higher in the ship, perhaps a few feet, which forms a...
underneath the engine
Engine room
On a ship, the engine room, or ER, commonly refers to the machinery spaces of a vessel. To increase the safety and damage survivability of a vessel, the machinery necessary for operations may be segregated into various spaces, the engine room is one of these spaces, and is generally the largest...
and boiler rooms.
Two bilge keel
Bilge keel
A bilge keel is used to reduce the hull's tendency to roll. Bilge keels are employed in pairs . A ship may have more than one bilge keel per side, but this is rare. Bilge keels increase hydrodynamic resistance to rolling, making the ship roll less...
s were fitted (the first used by the Royal Navy), which significantly reduced the roll of the ships. Because of their length the ships proved to be very sluggish while manoeuvring, as Warrior proved when she collided with in 1868. The Warrior-class ships trimmed down by the bow, not least because they were fitted with a 40 long tons (40.6 t) iron knee
Knee (construction)
In woodworking, a knee is a curved piece of load-bearing wood that is often used to connect adjacent members at approximately right angles to one another...
placed at the bow to give it a traditionally pleasing shape. This also prevented the ships from ramming any other ships. The bowsprit
Bowsprit
The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a pole extending forward from the vessel's prow. It provides an anchor point for the forestay, allowing the fore-mast to be stepped farther forward on the hull.-Origin:...
was shortened after completion in an effort to reduce the trim, but it was not noticeably successful.
Propulsion
The Warrior-class ships had one 2-cylinder trunk steam engine made by John Penn and SonsJohn Penn (engineer)
John Penn FRS, was a marine engineer, whose firm was pre-eminent in the middle of the nineteenth century due to his innovations in engine and propeller systems, which led his firm to be the major supplier to the Royal Navy as it made the transition from sail to steam power...
driving a single 24 in 6 in (7.47 m) propeller. Ten rectangular boiler
Boiler (steam generator)
A boiler or steam generator is a device used to create steam by applying heat energy to water. Although the definitions are somewhat flexible, it can be said that older steam generators were commonly termed boilers and worked at low to medium pressure but, at pressures above this, it is more...
s provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of 20 pound per square inch. The engine produced a total of 5267 ihp and was the most powerful thus far built for a warship. On sea trial
Sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...
s in October 1861 Warrior had a maximum speed around 14.3 knots (7.8 m/s); Black Prince was about a half knot slower. The ships carried 800 long tons (812.8 t) of coal, enough to steam 2100 nautical miles (3,889.2 km) at 11 knots.
The ironclads were ship rigged and had a sail area of 48400 square foot. The lower masts were made of wood, but the other masts were iron. Warrior made 13 knots (7.1 m/s) under sail, but Black Prince could only do 11 knots (6 m/s). Under both sail and steam Warrior once logged 17.5 knots (9.5 m/s). Both funnels were semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance while under sail alone. The ships' propellers could be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail. They were the largest hoistable propellers ever made and required about 600 men to be raised.
Armament
68-pounder gun
The 68-pounder cannon was an artillery piece designed and used by the British Armed Forces in the mid-19th century. The cannon was a smoothbore muzzle-loading gun manufactured in several weights, the most common being , and fired projectiles of . Colonel William Dundas designed the 112 cwt version...
s, 19 on each side on the main deck and one each fore and aft as chase gun
Chase gun
The chase guns, usually distinguished as bow chasers and stern chasers were cannons mounted in the bow or stern of a sailing ship...
s on the upper deck. This was modified during construction to ten rifled 110-pounder breech-loading guns, 26 × 68-pounders, and four rifled breech-loading 40-pounder
RBL 40 pounder Armstrong gun
The Armstrong RBL 40 pounder gun was an early attempt to use William Armstrong's new and innovative breechloading mechanism for medium artillery.-Design history:...
guns as saluting guns. The 40-pounder guns were to have been replaced by 70-pounder guns, but these failed their tests and were never issued. Both breech-loading guns were new designs from Armstrong
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
and much was hoped for them. Four of the 110-pounder guns were installed on the main deck amidships and the other two became chase guns; all of the 68-pounder guns were mounted on the main deck. Firing tests carried out in September 1861 against an armoured target, however, proved that the 110-pounder was inferior to the 68-pounder smoothbore gun in armour penetration and repeated incidents of breech explosions during the Battles for Shimonoseki and the Bombardment of Kagoshima
Bombardment of Kagoshima
The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the , took place on 15–17 August 1863 during the Late Tokugawa shogunate. The British Royal Navy was fired on from the coastal batteries near town of Kagoshima and in retaliation bombarded the town...
in 1863–64 forestalled plans to completely equip the ships with the 110-pounder gun.
The 7.9 inches (200.7 mm) solid shot of the 68-pounder gun weighed approximately 68 pounds (30.8 kg) while the gun itself weighed 10640 pounds (4,826.2 kg). The gun had a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 1579 ft/s (481.3 m/s) and had a range of 3200 yards (2,926.1 m) at an elevation of 12°. The 7 inches (177.8 mm) shell of the 110-pounder Armstrong breech-loader weighed 107–110 lb (48.5–49.9 ). It had a muzzle velocity of 1150 ft/s (350.5 m/s) and, at an elevation of 11.25°, a maximum range of 4000 yards (3,657.6 m). The shell of the 40-pounder breech-loading gun was 4.75 inches (12 cm) in diameter and weighed 40 lbs. The gun had a maximum range of 3800 yards (3,474.7 m) at a muzzle velocity of 1150 ft/s (350.5 m/s). The 110-pounder gun weighed 9520 pounds (4,318.2 kg) while the 40-pounder weighed 3584 pounds (1,625.7 kg). In 1863–64 the 40-pounder guns were replaced by a heavier version with the same ballistics. All of the guns could fire both solid shot
Round shot
Round shot is a solid projectile without explosive charge, fired from a cannon. As the name implies, round shot is spherical; its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the gun it is fired from.Round shot was made in early times from dressed stone, but by the 17th century, from iron...
and explosive shells
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
.
Both ships were rearmed during their 1867–68 refit with a mix of 7-inch and 8 inches (20 cm) rifled muzzle-loading guns. Warrior received twenty-eight 7-inch and four 8-inch guns while Black Prince received four fewer 7-inch guns. Both ships received four 20-pounder
RBL 20 pounder Armstrong gun
The Armstrong Breech Loading 20 pounder gun, later known as RBL 20 pounder, was an early modern 3.75 inch rifled breech-loading light gun of 1859.-History:The gun was effectively a larger version of the successful RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt Armstrong gun...
breech-loading guns for use as saluting guns. The shell of the 15-calibre
Caliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
8-inch gun
RML 8 inch 9 ton gun
The British RML 8 inch 9 ton guns Mark I - Mark III were medium rifled muzzle-loading guns used to arm smaller ironclad warships and coast defence batteries in the later 19th century.-Design:...
weighed 175 pounds (79.4 kg) while the gun itself weighed 9 long tons (9.1 t). It had a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 1410 ft/s (429.8 m/s) and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal 9.6 inches (244 mm) of wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
armour at the muzzle. The 16-calibre 7-inch gun weighed 6.5 long tons (6.6 t) and fired a 112 pounds (50.8 kg) shell. It was credited with the nominal ability to penetrate 7.7 inches (196 mm) armour.
Armour
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
armour belt
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
, 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick, that covered 213 feet (64.9 m) amidships. The armour extended 16 feet (4.9 m) above the waterline and 6 feet (1.8 m) below it. 4.5-inch transverse bulkheads protected the guns on the main deck. The armour was backed by 16 inches (40.6 cm) of teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
. The ends of the ship were left entirely unprotected which meant that the steering gear was very vulnerable.
Construction
The gun ports of the Warrior-class ships were built 46 inches (1.2 m) wide, which allowed the 68-pounders to traverse 52°. While the ships were building the directing bar was developed which consisted of an iron bar that fastened to a pivot bolt in the sill of the gun port. After the gun carriages were modified, this allowed them to pivot much closer to the gun port than had previously been possible and meant that the gun ports could be narrowed to a width of 24 inch (0.6096 m) while retaining the same arc of fire. The gun ports were narrowed to the new width by 7 inches (18 cm) of wrought iron. Another delay was the modification of the armour plates with tongue and grooveTongue and groove
A strong joint, the tongue and groove joint is widely used for re-entrant angles. The effect of wood shrinkage is concealed when the joint is beaded or otherwise moulded...
joints to lock the plates together and increase their resistance to armour-piercing shells. All together these modifications delayed the completion of Warrior by a year past her contract completion date.
| Ship | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Fate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thames Ironworks Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side... , Blackwall, London Blackwall, London Blackwall is an area of the East End of London, situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the north bank of the River Thames.The district around Blackwall Stairs was known as Blackwall by at least the 14th century. This presumably derives from the colour of the river wall, constructed in... |
25 May 1859 | 29 December 1860 | 24 October 1861 | Museum ship 1979 | £377,292 | |
| Robert Napier Robert Napier (engineer) Robert Napier was a Scottish engineer, and is often called "The Father of Clyde Shipbuilding."-Early life:Robert Napier was born in Dumbarton at the height of the Industrial Revolution, to James and Jean Napier... , Govan Govan Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick.... , Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... |
12 October 1859 | 27 February 1861 | 12 September 1862 | Sold 21 February 1923 | £377,954 |
Service
Warrior joined the Channel Fleet in July 1862 and was placed in ordinaryIn ordinary
In ordinary as a phrase has two technical meanings recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary:# In relation particularly to the staff of the British royal household, and more generally to those employed by the Crown, it is used as a suffix showing that the appointment is to the regular staff, for...
from 1864 to 1867, during which time she was refitted. The ship rejoined the Channel Fleet in 1867 and towed a floating drydock to Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
in 1869 with her sister Black Prince. Warrior was placed in ordinary again from 1872 to 1875 and was modified with a poop deck
Poop deck
In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or "aft", part of the superstructure of a ship.The name originates from the French word for stern, la poupe, from Latin puppis...
. She was recommissioned into the 1st Class Reserve in 1875 and made periodic training cruises until 1883. The ship was formally reclassified as an armoured frigate in 1884, but was disarmed and mastless. Warrior was hulk
Hulk (ship)
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...
ed as a depot ship in Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
Harbor in 1902 and renamed Vernon III in 1904 when she became part of HMS Vernon
HMS Vernon (shore establishment)
HMS Vernon was a shore establishment or 'stone frigate' of the Royal Navy. Vernon was established on 26 April 1876 as the Royal Navy's Torpedo Branch and operated until 1 April 1996, when the various elements comprising the establishment were split up and moved to different commands.-Foundation...
, the Royal Navy's Torpedo School. The ship regained her original name in 1923 and was converted once more into an oil pipeline pier in 1927. Warrior was towed to Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...
in 1929 and was renamed C77 in 1942 to release her name for the new aircraft carrier . In 1979 C77 was moved to Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
and was restored as HMS Warrior (1860) as the Fleet Headquarters
Northwood Headquarters
Northwood Headquarters is a military headquarters facility of the British Armed Forces in Eastbury, Hertfordshire, England, adjacent to the London suburb of Northwood...
in Northwood, London had assumed the name of HMS Warrior in the early 1960s. HMS Warrior (1860) can now be seen near at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Black Prince capsized while in dock at Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
, damaging her masts. She arrived in Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
in November 1861 with only jury-rigged fore and mizzenmasts. The ship was assigned to the Channel Fleet upon her completion and in 1867–68 she was rearmed and then assigned to the 1st Class Reserve. She was refitted in 1874 and given a poop deck
Poop deck
In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or "aft", part of the superstructure of a ship.The name originates from the French word for stern, la poupe, from Latin puppis...
, and rejoined the Channel Fleet in 1875 as the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Sir John Dalrymple-Hay, second in command of the fleet. Black Prince was placed in reserve in 1878 in Devonport until she was converted to a training ship in 1896 in Queenstown, Ireland and renamed Emerald in 1903. The ship was hulked and renamed Impregnable III in 1910 when she was assigned to the training school HMS Impregnable before she was sold for scrap on 21 March 1923.
See also
- Duke of Edinburgh-class cruiserDuke of Edinburgh class cruiserThe Duke of Edinburgh-class was a class of six armoured cruisers built around 1905 for the British Royal Navy. The later four ships were armed differently, and are sometimes considered as a separate class, the Warrior-class....
- the last four of this six-ship class are sometimes considered as a separate class, the Warrior-class cruiser.